November 07, 2021: Series 02
"I've been able to truly figure out what I want"
What has changed in your life for you and your family during this pandemic?
Lots has changed in my life and for my family during this pandemic. My grandpa has recently passed this year and we weren't able to be there for him. Hopefully, we'll be able to go to his 100th day ceremony. Towards the beginning of quarantine, work was off and on. My parents were able to come back from out of state for a while so we got to stay together which was nice. Not so nice on the not working part though. With being at home for a long period of time, I've also had a lot of time to just think by myself. I've been able to truly figure out what I want. By what I want, I mean my personal goals, career goals, fashion sense, and personal health. I feel like I've been able to discover the real me away from everyone's influence with trends and so on. I took a long break from social media and only go on it sometimes to check in on friends but it has really helped me be able to spend more time for myself and my family. There's always so much going on social media and I really realized through my break how toxic social media can be. After my break, I feel like I've been living more of my life instead of always being stuck on my phone.
How do you think COVID has changed the world as a whole?
I think COVID has led to so many people being harmed when we should all be peacefully helping each other through this tough time. We're all in this together and working our ways to get to a better pace but there has been so much violence going on. Of course there are still others who do stay peaceful and help one another but there have been lots of good and bad in the world during this pandemic.
How have you been taking care of your mental and overall health?
I've been taking care of my mental health by making sure I have some me time every evening for at least an hour or two before I sleep. Some evenings I will read, journal, watch a movie/show, listen to music, self care, or just anything that makes me relaxed. As for overall health, I did have a period throughout quarantine where I lost my appetite for a while which led me to losing a lot of hair. I wasn't sure why it was happening but I thought it was because I could've been stressed or tired. I learned that I was just getting sick of eating the same food over and over since living with my family, we always meals together. I'm grateful for their cooking but for me to eat more, I had to eat what I wanted to eat. We alternated days of what each family member wanted to eat for dinner and we all ate our separate meals for breakfast. Throughout quarantine, I was able to workout a lot. I even got my whole family to workout with me everyday for at least an hour and my cousin would join us via Facetime. I also got a toe infection and delayed going to get special treatment since my doctor said they weren't able to figure out what happened. On my trip to Arizona, it got worse so I went to the ER. They did a procedure and now I'm better and able to walk again. The sooner you go and get help, the better it will be. Lesson learned. Not talking to people in person has made me more anxious when talking to people even just over the phone. I've been working on it by calling my friends and family every now and then. Also, as more opening, I've been going with my mom out more when we have to run errands so I can get used to interactions again.
How do you think that this pandemic will affect your future?
I think this pandemic has helped me better myself as a human and help me mature a lot. It will help me learn how to be more independent when you're alone for a long period of time and how to better help with my family. As for school, I'm not sure what it will be like in the future but I'm guessing many will start going back to normal.
Why do you think it's important to have the human interactions with each other?
I think it's important to have human interactions with each other because we're practicing social skills. The more human interactions we have, the more comfortable we will be. Like I said earlier, it can be nerve racking talking to people sometimes after a long time of not doing so. Which is why I think it is so important to be able to get out of your comfort zone and talk to others again.
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